ALBUM REVIEW: Villagers of Ioannina City – Venceremos


 

Greek heavy rockers (for that’s what the press release dubs them) Villagers of Ioannina City deliver a ten-minute journey (I’d have said “Odyssey” but come on, even I’ve got standards) of epic breadth, from the gentle Folk guitar opener, to swooping Heavy Metal with enough distortion to run for office as the opening song to Venceremos (Napalm Records). The only really important other thing the press kit gave me was “folk”. Really important, like, “pretty much every track is infused with generalized Folk Rock during the slow moments” important. I like the mix. Even the occasional use of hurdy-gurdy feels more “tonal landscape” than “folk.” Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Yoth Iria – Gone With the Devil


Yoth Iria is very aware that by self-identifying as a Black Metal band from Greece, the comparisons to Rotting Christ are bound to happen. Gone With the Devil (Metal Blade Records) focuses on sounding bigger and more melodic than their countrymen to establish their own identity. This results in a much more Pagan Metal-infused sound. There are no blast beats nor the usual sonic trapping of black metal to be found aside from the rasp of the vocals. Sung vocals do find their way on this album, and they fly in out of nowhere to create a more Dimmu Borgir-like dynamic. Unlike Dimmu they are not overtly symphonic, but weave in layers of folk-inspired melodies that can be heard on “Woven Spells of a Demon.”

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ALBUM REVIEW: Night Resident – Total Obscurity


 

Total Obscurity is the third album from the Greek proto-Metal band Night Resident. They flirt with a similar brand of saccharine melodies to offset the rock edge. The double-tracked vocal harmonies are effective at times; for every song, they create a uniformity to their sound that is hard to shake, but first, let’s clear the air about something: these guys are marketed as being a “dark” rock band. As someone whose name is associated with being a purveyor of dark music, it would be a betrayal of trust for me to say anything that implies there is anything dark going on here. Continue reading →